Three unanswered first period goals and an eventual game-winning tally from a 15-year-old allowed the Saskatoon Blades to defeat the Winnipeg ICE 4-3 Friday in W-H-L pre-season action.
Colton Dach (pictured) and Scott Walford scored power play goals 78 seconds apart before Dach added a second marker to give the Bridge City Bunch a 3-0 advantage after one period…despite being out-shot 9-8.
The ICE rallied to within one goal in the second period, but Brandon Lisowsky tapped in a Kyle Crnkovic cross-crease pass off a 2-on-1 rush to give the Blue and Gold a 4-2 lead that Winnipeg couldn’t overcome. Lisowsky was Saskatoon’s first round pick, ninth overall, in the 2019 Bantam Draft. The ICE did score with a minute left in the third period and their goaltender on the bench for an extra attacker, but that was as close as they’d get.
Nolan Maier stopped 31 shots as Winnipeg (1-2-0 in the pre-season) out-shot the Blades, now 3-0-1 in exhibition play, by a 34-24 margin. The same teams meet Saturday night at SaskTel Centre with the broadcast on 98-COOL beginning at 6 o’clock and the play-by-play at 7. Following is the official game summary from the W-H-L…
Winnipeg ICE 3 at Saskatoon Blades 4 – Status: Final
Friday, September 13, 2019 – SaskTel Centre – Saskatoon, SK
Winnipeg 0 2 1 – 3
Saskatoon 3 1 0 – 4
1st Period-1, Saskatoon, Dach 3 (Crnkovic, Robins), 5:41 (PP). 2, Saskatoon, Walford 1 (Hughes, Huber), 6:59 (PP). 3, Saskatoon, Dach 4 (Walford, McKay), 14:00. Penalties-McMaster Wpg (hooking), 4:14; Smallwood Wpg (tripping), 6:51; Kaddoura Sas (tripping), 7:44; Savoie Wpg (kneeing), 14:45.
2nd Period-4, Winnipeg, Muir 2 (Pederson, Savoie), 2:16. 5, Winnipeg, Harsch 1 (Lambos, Kodak), 7:07 (PP). 6, Saskatoon, Lisowsky 1 (Crnkovic, Kaddoura), 15:49. Penalties-Prosofsky Wpg (tripping), 3:26; Kucerik Sas (interference), 5:12; Pederson Wpg (slashing), 6:15; Walford Sas (roughing), 6:15; Zabransky Sas (hooking), 8:41; Form Wpg (tripping), 12:22; served by Savoie Wpg (too many men), 16:47; Crnkovic Sas (misconduct – mouthguard), 19:12; Johnson Wpg (high sticking), 19:46.
3rd Period-7, Winnipeg, Smallwood 1 (Johnson, Harsch), 19:00. Penalties-Johnson Wpg (tripping, tripping), 3:50; Murray Wpg (10-minute misconduct), 12:11; Malchuk Sas (cross checking), 13:59.
Shots on Goal-Winnipeg 9-17-8-34. Saskatoon 8-7-9-24.
Power Play Opportunities-Winnipeg 1 / 4; Saskatoon 2 / 9.
Goalies-Winnipeg, Gurski 1-1-0-0 (10 shots-7 saves); Alexander 0-1-0-0 (14 shots-13 saves). Saskatoon, Maier 2-0-0-0 (34 shots-31 saves).
A-
Referees-Cody Beach (76), Jason Bourdon (20).
Linesmen-Aidan Penner, Andrew Sawatsky (123).
